6 Easy Ways to Keep in Touch with Old Friends

Friends are such an important part of our lives. Thy experience life with us, whether it’s going well or poorly. Our old friends know us unlike anyone else because they’ve been through it all by our side. When you don’t see your close friends regularly, though, that can potentially create some distance between you. No one wants that! Just like romantic relationships, friendships sometimes take an effort to maintain. You have to make sure to keep in touch!

I have gone to a different school than my two best friends since 7th grade. In fact, we were only friends in school together for one year before moving on to different middle schools. Now, we’re in college and spread out across the country. To add to that, I don’t go to the same college as any of my high school friends. So I guess you can say that I have some experience with keeping in touch with friends who I don’t have the pleasure of seeing every day. We have used many of these methods of keeping in touch, so I can tell you that they work!

Here are six different ways to keep in touch with the important people in your life.

1. Meet Up as Much as Possible

This is our Marketing Coordinator Sarah Sherman’s favorite way to keep in touch with friends!

This is perhaps the most obvious and difficult solution to keeping in touch with friends. Actually hang out! If you still live in the same area, or within a reasonable driving distance, try to meet up at least once a month. If you live farther away, look into cheap bus, train, and plane rides to see each other once or twice a year. There’s no substitute for spending time together in person!

2. Never Forget a Birthday

Credit: Birthday Party Ideas

Whether you write a loving Facebook post, send a simple card, or ship a gift to your friend, they will appreciate it. Remembering birthdays is an easy way to show you care. And, a birthday message can be used as a jumping off point for further conversation. So, if you haven’t talked in a while, it’s a great opportunity to catch up.

3. Use Technology

In the 21st century, technology is a great choice for easy communication. There are a million (I’m probably not exaggerating) ways to keep in touch using technology. Many of these, you probably use all the time. Some, you may have never heard of or considered using to connect with old friends. So, here are some of the many classic and creative ways you can use technology to stay connected with people.

Classic

There are many tried-and-true methods for keeping in touch with technology. You probably use some of these daily! And if you don’t, you should start.

Creative

These ways use technology in a slightly more creative way. Do you do some of these already?

As you can see, there are so many ways to use technology to stay close with your friends! Take advantage of it.

4. Write Each Other Letters

This is our Staff Editor Michele’s favorite way to keep in touch with friends!

Sending letters between friends and family members has been a practice for centuries, long before there was any other form of communication across distance. Now, with so many ways to contact someone instantly, snail mail has been left in the dust. However, it’s still a wonderful way to keep in touch! My friends and I send each other mail while we’re at college, and it’s exciting to receive those letters and postcards. I keep all my mail that I receive and bundle it up together at the end of the year. I know that when I’m older, I’ll love looking back on these messages. Take the extra time to send your friends a letter or postcard. It shows how much you care, and they’ll have a wonderful keepsake from your friendship!

5. A Traveling Journal

If you’re anything like me, you were obsessed with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in your middle school years. You know how the traveling journal works. If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s about four best friends who find a pair of jeans that fit all of them. To keep in touch, they wrote in a journal about their adventures while wearing the pants, then mailed the journal and the pants to each other. This is perhaps the most creative way to keep in touch long distance. Since it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll find one pair of pants that fits you and your friends, though, sticking to the traveling journal will work. Set an amount of time for each person in the group to keep the journal. When your time is up, mail it to the next person. You can write entries about your life in the journal, doodle, and write comments on other people’s entries!

6. Plan a Trip Together

This is our Content Marketer Joi’s favorite way to keep in touch with friends!

If you and your friend have ever wanted to visit the same travel destination, make it happen! For convenience, pick a place between both of your homes, or go all out and travel around the world together. Going on a trip together is an amazing way to make some lasting memories. Plus, you both get to check an item off your bucket list!

No matter what stage of life you’re in right now, you probably have old friends with whom you’d like to keep in touch. We hope that these suggestions help you maintain those friendships!

What is your favorite way to stay in touch with friends? Is it on this list? Let us know in the comments!